Charity is not just fund contribution!

More often than not, charity is considered as supporting non-profit organisations through financial donations. But, today NGOs are making efforts to bring in a paradigm shift in the way people perceive charity. The non-profits are striving towards various creative and innovative ways to involve people and their talent for the greater good of the society. The word charity has gone beyond regular fund contribution. Now it taps the skill, time and willingness of people to do social good.

Here is an example of one such non-profit organisation. The Akshaya Patra Foundation is an Indian NGO working towards implementation of the mid-day meal programme. Initiated in 2002, the Foundation operates in a Public-Private Partnership model. Agreeing to the significant role that monetary support has played in setting up of the entire organisation and sustaining the NGO over 14 years; Akshaya Patra is also equally grateful to all the support that it received in terms of knowledge sharing, employing skills and investing time for the benefit of underserved children. Weighing the importance of both financial and non-financial support Akshaya Patra has derived a volunteering platform for supporters from all walks of life. The volunteering platform of Akshaya Patra accommodates activities that can be easily executed by individual, group and also corporate supporters.

The Get Involved section of Akshaya Patra will introduce you to a wide array of volunteering activities to choose from. Some of them being as simple as sharing Facebook and Twitter posts and thereby becoming an online supporter! One can also utilise his or her passion for bike riding as a medium to spread awareness about Akshaya Patra’s cause. If you are a photographer, you can tell Akshaya Patra’s story through your lenses! If you are a writer then share about Akshaya Patra beneficiaries in your blog. A corporate can partner with Akshaya Patra as a part of their Corporate Social Responsibility initiative. An innovation firm can support the cause by providing innovative technological advice to the Foundation.

Akshaya Patra welcomes social collaboration from each citizen. Let’s take this opportunity to give a new meaning to charity.

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Akshaya Patra on NGC’s ‘Mega Kitchen’ documentary series

The National Geographic Channel will be featuring Akshaya Patra in a special telecast premier of their documentary series ‘NGC Mega Kitchens’. The pilot episode which is titled ‘Akshaya Patra – Shiksha Ka Mahabhog’ will be aired on 27th April, 9 pm on The National Geographic Channel.

This will be the first episode of a twelve part documentary series. The episode highlights Akshaya Patra’s highly mechanised approach of providing the Government Mid-Day Meal Scheme to over 1.4 million children every day. Through their kitchens constructed over 24 locations in India, Akshaya Patra supplies food to 10,770 Government and Government aided schools in India.

Get a preview of this special episode here. 

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VGL contributes to Akshaya Patra

The Vaibhav Group of Companies has teamed up with Akshaya Patra to promote the cause of food for education. Through their one-for-one initiative VGL will contribute towards one Akshaya Patra tasty, nutritious mid-day meal, for every item sold from VGL’s The Jewellery Channel (TJC) UK! Through this campaign TJC has already donated Rs.10 lakh to Akshaya Patra and will support the Foundation’s mid-day meals for 14,000 children for the entire year.

To kickstart this campaign the Managing Director of TJC, UK Colin Wagstaffe and other representatives toured the Akshaya Patra kitchen in Jaipur, and served food to the beneficiary students in the region.

This is yet another example for the good that can be achieved through corporates taking on an active role in addressing social issues in the country. By making this generous contribution to Akshaya Patra, VGL is contributing directly towards combating the deadly issue of classroom hunger in India.

Currently this electronic retailer of jewellery and lifestyle products is running its main manufacturing outlet in Jaipur, while running sourcing offices in China, Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia.

To support the cause of eliminating classroom hunger in India, make a donation to The Akshaya Patra Foundation here.@ donate to ngo

Akshaya Patra meals provide sustenance to the undernourished

Pithali is a student of standard four in the Khudradadhi Lower Primary school in Assam. She comes from a low income family where the average income per month is between Rs.2,500 and Rs.4,000. Her father works as a seasonal mason, and sometimes goes without work for as much as half a year. Her mother is employed making Mekhala Chadars, the traditional outfit of Assam. Pithali, though so young, starts her day at 6am since she helps her older sister with the household chores before attending school.

Saavn and Akshaya Patra join for #MusicForMeals

Saavn, the leading digital music service provider in India, has partnered with The Akshaya Patra Foundation to help provide nutrition to the underserved children of India. They have launched a one-of-a-kind initiative called #MusicForMeals where they aim to feed 5,000 Akshaya Patra beneficiaries one mid-day meal every day, for an entire year!

The initiative is based on the premise that for every hour of streaming on the Saavn website or apps, the music service provider will contribute to Akshaya Patra. Saavn has pledged to make monthly donations, and has just completed a donation of Rs. 3.12 lakh to Akshaya Patra during February.

Talking about the vision behind the Saavn-Akshaya Patra collaboration, Rishi Malhotra the Co-Founder and CEO of Saavn says, “Our goal as a company has always been to be as impactful as the music we stream to millions of users every day. Just as we have become India’s music streaming service, we want the Saavn team and our users to make a lasting difference in the world, especially in India, where children are the next generation of students, leaders, entrepreneurs, and the future of the country.

We’re launching #MusicForMeals so that our users’ love for music can translate into sending children to schools for wholesome meals, on a daily basis. We are inviting other companies to join #MusicForMeals as it is an opportunity for all companies to collaborate and make a lasting impact. As we add millions of users and streams this year, we’ll grow our support for #MusicForMeals alongside it. We believe music can truly change the world in every way.

Akshaya Patra CEO Shridhar Venkat also expresses his pleasure saying, “We appreciate the philanthropic values of Saavn and thank them for #MusicForMeals. This initiative by Saavn will help in serving meals to many underserved children on school days, helping them with an opportunity to attend school, focus and learn.”

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